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Tuesday, July 22, 2014

celebrating with Olfa

You may or may not have heard, but Olfa is celebrating the 35th anniversary of the rotary cutter. That's a HUGE deal and I was super excited that they asked me to be a part of their celebration.

The second quilt I ever made was done without a rotary cutter. I used a square cardboard template and a pair of not-so-sharp scissors for the cutting. Having that experience, I am very thankful to have a rotary cutter to use daily! And I do...well, almost daily, anyway.

My favorite rotary cutter is the Splash, which I've been using it since they released it last year and I love everything about it....the contoured handle, the quick change blade and the fact that I can use it with either my left or right hand. I am pretty smitten with the color as well! It's wonderful to have functional and pretty tools.

I made a 6.5" block to contribute to Olfa's commemorative quilt that will be made and shown at Quilt Festival in Houston this fall. The only requirements were that the block finishes at 6.5" and it contains yellow. I considered a lot of ideas before landing on this one. I settled on a churn dash block because it is an iconic quilt block and kind of indispensable--a lot like the rotary cutter! I free pieced a tiny 35 in the center block. I like this little block a lot and I am looking forward to seeing the entire quilt.

As a part of the celebration, I'm happy to be hosting a giveaway as well. Olfa is giving away a 28mm rotary cutter and a small cutting mat. These are great tools for piecing small scraps together right at your work station or they would work well for paper piecing, if you are prone to such a thing. :) I've found the small rotary cutter indispensable for cutting curves with a template. If you'd like to be entered into the drawing, please leave me a comment. In your comment I'd love to hear how long you've been quilting/sewing. This contest is open to US residents only this time. (Sorry to my international readers!) I'll pick a winner in a few days!

I hear you on the NOT cutting out pieces with something other than a rotary cutter! My first quilt (almost 4 years ago) was a rag quilt. My husband was so kind as to cut out 5 inch squares for me...about 100 of them or so. And he did that with some template he made and a pair of scissors. Needless to say, for Christmas that year, he bought me an Olfa 60mm cutter and a huge Olfa mat!!! One of the best Christmas gifts ever, and I still use it very much to this day. :) So to answer your question, I've been quilting for almost 4 years. I've graduated from rag quilts to regular quilts, and I look forward to advancing my skills even more so in the future!

This is great timing, I was just thinking that I could use a small rotary cutter for some of the quilt designs I have on the horizon. I recently introduced my mother to the joys of the pinking wheel for her Olfa cutter for her garment projects. She's thrilled, especially because she's been having problems with her thumbs that make using scissors a serious problem.

I've been sewing off and on for about 30 years but I actually only started quilting about 2 months ago and am in the process of building up all of the necessary tools so winning this would be excellent!

I started quilting in January of 2013. I am sooooo addicted to blocks. I spent the day teaching my granddaughter to make a sausage pillow case which she promptly gifted to her sister for her birthday. Linda imakejoy@aol.com

Cute block! I've been sewing since I was 5 (which was long, long ago) and I had to beg my mom relentlessly until she agreed to show me how to use her sewing machine. In 7th grade home ec our teacher taught us to sew a quilt block and I've loved quilts ever since. That was, ahem, before rotary cutters.

You made a darling block, Amanda! I've been making quilts since 1972, so I had to make quilts with scissors. I remember when the rotary cutter became available. I'm still using the first one, a 45mm, I purchased in the early 1980's! It's rolled across hundreds of miles! Thanks for the chance to win!

Close to 2 years recently, but I was sewing quite a bit 7 years ago. I kind of stopped when I moved from my single apartment to a house with my fiance and picked it back up when I was married and pregnant. Amazing what kids will do for you :)

My first attempt at quilting was about 28 years ago and it's still a UFO. It was all done by hand. I had never heard of a rotary cutter. All the plastic templates and fabric were drawn with pencil and cut with scissors. It was all hand pieced and lap quilted. My then husband told me one of my applique blocks (interlocking hearts) was not centered. He asked me to get my seam gauge so he could prove it to me. It was off 1/16". He knew that from across our LARGE living room. I thought the quilt was not good enough for him and put it up, knowing he would never let me use it. All the blocks are finished and I think I have one row completed and part of another. My mother was going to quilt it for me and didn't understand lap quilting and didn't know how to finish it to put it in a frame. About a year ago, my ex-husband and I finally talked and he was proud that he could tell the block was not centered. I told him how that remark had effected my quilting and affected me, too. He said he was amazed at how close I could get it centered with human effort (opposed to using machinery). Oh, if only we had communicated back then - coulda, woulda, shoulda. Nope, there's just too much water under the bridge for us. Thanks for the wonderful block and the giveaway.

I made my first quilt 43 years ago -- started very young ;) and it measured about 12 by 18-- a doll quilt.

I really got into quilting right about the time rotary cutting entered the scene-- so yeah, about 35 years ago. I still have (and use) my original olfa cutter and a set of Trudi Hughs rulers that have lost their markings over the years of use-- but are still my favorites.

I've been quilting about six years, but the first few years were in a tiny apartment which was not conducive at all... I'm still not a very productive quilter (about a quilt a year) but I do a little bit more frequently now that I have more room.

I made a quilt about 15 years ago, but didn't "become a quilter" until 3 years ago. Now it's a part of my daily life, and I would love a 28mm cutter. I currently only have 45mm, and sometimes it's too big for what I want to do.

I've been sewing since the mid 1970's and quilting since the late '70's. The rotary cutter and mats and rulers changed my quilting life! I love to paper piece and the smaller cutter works so well for trimming but my favorite is still the 45 mm for everything else. Happy anniversary Olfa!!

Thanks for the great giveaway! I've been sewing for well over 30 years (sewed all my kids clothes -including dance costumes- for many years, and they just turned 29 and 30 last week). But I've just been quilting for about a year. A new cutter and mat would be a great addition to my very small supply of tools!

I learned to sew in high school, but I didn't learn how to quilt until my second baby came along. I've used Olfa rotary cutters and mats exclusively. I have found that using them as companions, allows my blades to last longer. Thanks for the giveaway!

I've been quilting for 3 years and my first queen size bed quilt was totally scrappy and each block was a different PIECED block. I cut cardboard templates, traced and cut out every piece! It was intense but I didn't know any better. I bought my rotary cutter and mat in time to cut the borders for that quilt and I have never looked back! :)

I started sewing way, way before Olfa had a cutter. When they first came out they said they were for garment sewists to use freehand. I didn't like that, but when I started using it for quilting, I never looked back. Love it, use it every day. The 28mm is great for circles - the ones where you cut in a slit. I'm sooooo glad there's Olfa!

I started sewing so I could have some new outfits in 8th grade, I saved up my babysitting money ( .50 per hour in the 60's) and bought a Kenmore sewing machine, it served me well, I even made my wedding gown with it in 1972. I started quilting in the 80's when I needed a way to relax from intensive care nursing. I sew everyday with either my Bernina or my Janome and still love it.

I've been sewing since middle school so 45ish years (oh my God) but just started quilting 2 years ago when I made a patchwork baby quilt for a yet-to-be-born great-niece. Just finished my 4th quilt this past week for the soon-to-be-born sister of that first one.Jane @ Handiworking.com

I really had to sit and think about how long I've been messing around with quilting. It's been a good 28 years now! Wow. Unbelievable. I started with small stuff like placemats and basket liners and worked up to quilts. Wouldn't trade a minute of it. :)

What a great block! The quilt is going to be fabulous. I learned to sew in middle school, sewed clothes in high school, but didnt learn to quilt till I was married and pg with my first baby, in my early 20s (that was 20yrs ago!).

I think I have been sewing for almost 50 years! My mom taught me as a girl, and then I made lots of Halloween costumes for my own kids! Quilting hooked me about 15 years ago, and I love it more all the time! Thanks for the chance to win!

I made a quilt top in 1971 and my mother quilted it. I really didn't start quilting until 1997 when my daughter asked for a t-shirt quilt made with her sorority shirts. I never looked back and probably have made 100 quilts since then.

Awesome block! You've got all the right colors and the theme! I hope I don't miss out on seeing the entire quilt all together...I've been quilting on and off for about 4 years. It started in 2010 with a couple of BOM's to "learn with" and many, many tips from fellows quilters, books, and Youtube videos later... I think I "get it" now enough to really enjoy the entire process of quilt making! :-)

I love my rotary cutter!! I have been quilting and sewing for more years than I am willing to say, LOL!! Lets just say I started when I was five. Carole @ From My Carolina Home (email craftnut at rocketmail dot com)

I"ve been quilting off and on for about 5 years, and with much more frequency in the past couple of years. I love it so much now that I rarely get any other sewing done. It's just all about quilts. Thanks for the chance to win!

Love your blog and all of your projects/inspiration! Would love to win a pretty cutter :) I got my first sewing machine for my 16th birthday and started quilting around the age of 20. (so I've been quilting a little over 20 years now) and am sitting hear soaking up quilting blogs as I wait anxiously for my son having his final interview for a law enforcement position! Thank you for a chnce to win.

I've been quilting since 2006. I almost started 20 years before that, but in the quilting class I took they had us draw around cardboard templates & cut them out with scissors. After blistering my hand on the scissors I gave up. But my youngest sister got me started on a round robin quilt using a rotary cutter & I was hooked. Thanks for the chance to win.

I am a first time quilter...machine quilter that is. The one and only quilt I've done was pieced by hand and oh quilted by machine but still it was my first! I used Jacob's Ladder for my pattern. The finished project was given to my daughter on her 16th birthday.

Thanks for the giveaway. I like your tiny 35. I've been sewing since my teenage years, but only quilting for just over a year. I'm going to need to keep quilting since I already have a huge stack of projects I want to make!

I learned to sew, crochet, and embroider as a child. The first quilt I made was a quilted jacket about 15 years ago. My first real quilt was started with a Saturday Sampler program at my local quilt shop ten years ago. Rotary cutters really make quilting easier.

My, my, my...how long have I been quilting? I've been sewing since I was around 10; got my first machine at 14; and made my fist quilt sometime in my early 20's. So I'm guessing I've been quilting almost 30-years! Wow, time sure flies :o)Although I've made many quilts over the years it wasn't until the past few years that I started machine quilting; which is so different from the first quilts I ever made!

I made my first quilt with my mom when I lived with her in Germany in 3rd grade. Much later (pre-rotary cutter) I decided to make my sister a quilt while I was in college...23 years later I finished it. These days I am on much more of a roll, my last quilt took 6 months (while working full time and writing my doctoral dissertation). I too have a splash cutter that I love :-)

When I was ten years old in the 1962, I asked all my neighbors for fabric and my mom taught me to hand sew a Nine Patch Block. Mom helped me put all the blocks together and Dad built a quilt frame. The best part is the whole family helped quilt, including my 2 older brothers. Lots of sore fingers later, we had a finished quilt and the best part is that I still have it today. Good memories!! I too used a square of cardboard and some pretty dull scissors. Thanks, Kathy kdavis1@centurytel.net

I've been quilting for 21 years...my MIL gave me my first scissor and template lessons a year after I married her son! I didn't learn about rotary cutters until several years later...and what a difference that made!

I love how your block came out! I've been sewing for about 23 years(made my first night gown at 6). I've always wanted to quilt but I'm just getting started on doing it. Thanks for hosting the giveaway.

I started quilting my first quilt about 7 years ago. But it's been an off again on again thing till about two years ago. Kids, what else can I say.;) but since finishing several quilts in the past two years, I think it will be an on again thing from now on. Finishing a quilt is such an accomplishment! I love it!!

I've been sewing about 42 years. I started on my grandma's treadle machine and made doll clothes. I made my first quilt (an Irish chain) in 1991. That's when I started using a rotary cutter, an Olfa, of course.

I got my girl scout sewing badge some time back in the 70s, was a cross-stitcher thru high school and college and then started quilting in the early 90s. At some point after kids were born I started knitting, too. My quilting has taken a back seat lately and new tools (or new fabric) would get me motivated again. Love your scrappy stuff !!

I've only been quilting for two years. I'll tell my husband that he can thank Olfa for my obsession - I frequently tell people that I would never have the patience for quilting if it weren't for our modern rotary cutters and self-healing mats! :)

I've been quilting since I was 17......gulp 40 years!!!!This weekend I saw one of the first quilts I made! Too fun. I also love everything about the splash rotary cutter and always sell them to newbies in the LQS I work at.

I was working on my first quilt during the hanging chad controversy in the al gore and George Bush presidential election - that makes it 14 years, 2 bush terms and 11/2 Obama terms. I am still using the quilt on my bed. I've bought several projects worth for a new bedspread but someone else's quilt always comes up before mine.

all my gosh, you have a lot of comments! That is awesome! I have been quilting nearly 20 years and prior to that I sold a lot of clothing for myself and our children. I think it would be fun to win a new rotary cutter. Thank you for the opportunity.

I made my first quilt about 40 years ago and have recently gotten back into serious quilting 3 years ago after I retired. I am finally getting comfortable with paper piecing and I would like to attempt a curved project like Drunkard's path next.

Cute Block!! I've been quilting for 35 years--they must have come out with the Olfa right around the time I started, but I remember drawing around templates and cutting patches out for quite awhile before buying one. I've been sewing forever, it seems. I tried sewing doll clothes probably (ulp!) 55 years ago.

I've been quilting for 30 years. I still use my first Olfa rotary cutter that I bought way back then. I remember splurging on the largest cutting mat--my husband was in graduate school so we pinched pennies but I'm still using both of them so great value and great tools.

Olga cutters have been my go to for years. Love your churn dash block! I've been quilting for about 15 years but sewing since I was 11. Can't imagine going back to templates and scissors! Thanks for the giveaway.

Oh how I could use a small rotary cutter. I have just begun to explore the world of curved piecing and get so frustrated trying to use my larger cutter when cutting around curved templates. However I love my Splash cutter for straight line cutting! Thanks for the chance to win.Barb

Love rotary cutters! I can't imagine making quilts without them. I learned to quilt about 18 years ago but put it aside for a few years. I have been quilting seriously for the past 7 years and now making kids charity quilts has become my passion. However, I began sewing in high school...not telling how long ago that was. ;-)

Wow, I almost forgot but the first quilt I made was with cardboard templates and a scissors! That was way back in the late 70's, I was newly married and took a class with my mom at the local community education. I still have the quilt, but boy is it primitive! I sure love the new quilting technology of rulers and rotary cutters!

I've been quilting for 2 years since I retired. I always LOVED quilts and fabric but was cautious about starting before I had enough time to finish. I've made 12 quilts, 7 table runners and 6 placemats since then. I am hooked!

Hi there! I have been quiltng for about 20 years now, we all grew up crafty in my house and my mom let us try everything! Quilting and cross stitch and baking are my favorites! Thanks for the giveaway!

I really like the block! I've been quilting for probably 15 years. My first was complete with templates and hand piecing. I've really ramped up the quilt production in the last three years. Always thinking about what I want to do next.

I started quilting with my mom when I was little (maybe 8 or 9?), but really got back into it on my own after I finished my masters degree 10 years ago. Thanks for the opportunity! And your block is really cute!

I have sewn for loooong time, but actually joined the Quilting World, just about 3 yrs ago....am learning with my 2 Daughters. One lives in NC, and the other lives about 15 min. away......we are all having such fun!!

I would love to have the rotary cutter. I have a small olfa and a lRger one of another brand. Had a difficult time finding the blades here locally. You dil told me they had them on Amazon. So I ordered dome. I have been quilting since I was in high school, more than 50 years ago.

I've been sewing since I'm at least 12 and will be 60 this coming winter (yikes!)I took up quilting this past November (2013) and just dove in head first and already am drowning in fabric, patterns, requests and ideas! Mom sent me to Singer school when I was 12 and learned all aspects of sewing.

I seriously cannot figure out how my grandma and great grandma, and thousands of other women made such amazing quilts without a rotary cutter, mat and rulers! I would be lost without them! Thanks for the giveaway.

Love your block! Made my first quilt 30+ years ago and then another 20+ years later and been quilting ever since. Been sewing ever since I could sit on my Grandmama's lap at her Singer. Let's not discuss how long ago that was!

I can't remember NOT knowing how to sew; my first memory of sewing is sitting on my mom's lap making a dress for a doll that I got for my 5th Christmas. Thanks; I'd love a rotary cutter, as I don't have one -- I've made 7 quilts without one so far, but I'm beginning to wonder what it would be like to use one! sarah@forrussia.org

I've been sewing for about 50 years and quilting for 40 years. I remember how it was before the rotary cutter came into being, much slower and much more labor intensive when cutting the fabric pieces. Thank goodness for it's introduction.

I made my first quilt 32 years ago and just love to sew. I made lots of dresses and pajamas when the girls were young but the last 10 years have been strictly quilting and I am a very happy sewer. Thanks for all you do .

My first hand sewing try was at age 5. Machine at 12. Quilting at 35. I've been a binge sewer all my life. Kind of an all or nothing type. I settled into quilting steady in 2012 when my last child finished home school. I think my binge sewing days are over.

I've sewn off and on my whole life, although neither my mom or I can remember me actually learning to sew.My first quilt was made just before my 8th child was born in January of 2009, following one of your fabulous tutorials. I liked your quilt much better than mine, but I was hooked anyways ;-) and have had some quilting project or another in the works pretty regularly ever since.

I haven't been quilting very long, but I have been sewing over 60 years. I started VERY young making doll clothes, and made a dress for myself when I was 10. It turned out great, and I wore it to school! I'd love to win the Splash!

Cute block! I have been sewing since Jr. High, so maybe around 45 years. Man that sounds like such a long time. I quilted for a little bit almost 20 years ago and then just in the last several years have really got back into it. Thanks for the giveaway!!!

I've been sewing since I was about 14 and quilting for the last nine. My mom did some quilting in the 70's, but we rediscovered it together after my dad passed away 9 years ago. Quilting, and just as fun, fabric shopping! has become our shared hobby :-)

Thanks for the chance! I've been sewing since I was about 9, but primarily dress maker. It wasn't until last year that my fav auntie got me hooked on quilting. Since then I've completed three quilts and have three in progress. Recently, I've discovered paper piecing and love it! I so enjoy your blog. Jamie